Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

A firm commitment without a firm date, as the Taoiseach will be aware, is basically meaningless. Many sectors of society have suffered in the bust organised courtesy of Fianna Fáil and the Green Party and also as a result of the Taoiseach's austerity policies, but it is no accident that those who heal, those who care, those who teach and those who guard the peace who are in their jobs almost as a vocation are treated the way they are being treated. The principle of equal pay for equal work is a simple proposition, not that a person could be employed with someone else who is doing exactly the same job and is getting paid much less than him or her.

The Government has not dealt with this issue with the urgency that it deserved. I hope that the strike on Friday will be averted but the issues involved which underpin it, like the other issues, need to be dealt with, and that includes the planned teachers' strike on Monday. What the vast majority of these public servants want and deserve is the firm and timely unwinding of the financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, cuts and the pay restoration which they need. I make the case that their demands are reasonable.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality stated contingency plans are in place for the planned strike by gardaí. Will the Taoiseach spell out what these are? The Tánaiste also said that the Defence Forces will be on standby as an aid to the civil power. Will the Taoiseach tell us what that means?

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